De Ja Vu
by xk.FlowingBlossoms.xk
Summary: It was the exact same as when she was 12 years old again. Maybe... maybe this was all a genjutsu! The Akatsuki are going to try to taunt her and then she's going to snap back to reality with the burning houses, the dead bodies, and the horrible truth.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first time I've done time travel... or **_**any**_** fanfics at all, so tell me if I should continue with this once you're done with the chapter.  
-s-**

Sakura rushed through the halls of the hospital in her medic suit, her eyebrows knotted in worry. She burst through the doors of an emergency room and hesitated slightly before continuing to her new patient.

Fighting back the panic and fear, Sakura looked over her bruised and bloodied ally, quickly scribbling down some notes on her clipboard, silently cursing whoever brought this misfortune on this man.

It was her patient that spoke first.

"S-Sakura-chan... you look t-tired. Why d-don't you rest a f-few hours once in a w-while?"

The medic looked up in alarm.

"Naruto! You're awake!"

Naruto grinned weakly back at her.

"Of c-course. I'm just fine. Y-You should stop w-worrying about me and go get s-some sleep. You look terrible."

Sakura couldn't stop from sounding hysteric. "_Just fine?_ Your ribs are _all_ broken, your kidney was stabbed, your heart rate is constantly speeding up and slowing down, your lungs are both punctured, and your legs are amputated!"

She was by his side in a heartbeat, vainly trying to heal all of his injuries when the wall to her right suddenly exploded. There, glowing in the light of dawn, stood their enemy.

Sasuke Uchiha.

The kunoichi recovered from her shock and spat, "_Uchiha!_ What are you doing here?"

His curt reply was, "The Jinchuriki. I need his body."

Sakura's response was to grab Naruto's body and run out of there as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't bother to look back, knowing that it would only slow down her progress.

_'I need somewhere to hide Naruto for the time being...'_

She was so busy running that she completely forgot that her friend was conscious, so she nearly tripped when she heard his hoarse voice.

"Sakura-chan... I have o-one last request f-for you..."

Startled emerald eyes met determined sapphire ones. Sakura mutely nodded, silently saying that she would do anything for her best friend.

Naruto's eyes became serious as he said, "Burn m-me. W-When I die, b-burn my body so that S-Sasuke won't be able to take the N-Nine Tailed Fox."

Sakura stopped in her tracks, her grip on Naruto tightened in horror.

"I-I can't do that! There must be another way!"

Her best friend shook his head gave her one last bright smile... and he closed his eyes, never to open them again in his time.

At the sight of the smile still lingering on his face and the feel of his limp body in her arms made Sakura's throat constrict painfully. Tears flowed freely out of her eyes as she mourned over the wasted life. She had failed to save him, just as she had failed to save everyone else. Now there was no one left... but her.

And she couldn't deny that she didn't want to join them, but she had to complete the task given to her first before she could do anything.

Just then a voice came from her left.

"Give it to me, Sakura."

Her name came out just like he wanted it to. Alluring and tempting... but dark. If she was a few years younger, she would've fallen head over heels for that voice and hand Naruto over in an instant... but she wasn't so disloyal now, and her blazing crush had subsided to a feeling short of hate.

She hissed, "Over my dead body!" and then started running again with Sasuke in pursuit.

Sasuke was faster than her and possibly more skillful, but she was running for her life, and the adrenaline boosted her speed. She hadn't noticed before, but she was ironically in the Uchiha village. An idea suddenly came to her... and she was going to try to follow through. Normally, she wouldn't go so low as to fiddle around with people's feelings, but she was desperate now.

Blindly running through the village, Sakura frantically searched for the right building. Right when she got to the district with the larger houses, Sasuke appeared in front of her.

At her astonished face, he explained, "You think there's not an inch of this village that I don't know? You think that I have no idea where the shortcuts are?"

There was an edge to his voice, making the pink haired girl feel slightly guilty, but also victorious with the new knowledge.

Sasuke is still affected by this place.

She expertly jumped high over his head, but her opponent was faster. He jumped up, grabbed her ankle, and swung her down. Sakura landed roughly on her bottom, and mentally thanked Kami for not damaging Naruto any further.

Sasuke stepped closer to her, his tall figure looming over her smaller one. The demand was written all over his posture, his face, and his mood.

_Hand the Jiinchuriki to __**me**__._

And Sakura made it so that her posture, her face, and her mood that said, _Never._

Jumping to her feet, she abandoned her last attempt and instead skirted around him. She could faintly hear his light footfalls on the concrete, getting closer by the second... but she had to make it to her destination before he caught her.

Soon, they arrived at the Uchiha compound where Sasuke used to live. It listed the members of the family, but when it got to Itachi's name, there were many scratch marks that nearly made the elder brother's name unreadable. Sakura quickly entered the household and ran up the stairs. She paused there to see Sasuke's reaction. It seemed like he had none, for he entered indifferently with that stoic look on his face with all intentions to continue the chase.

Letting out a small squeak of surprise, Sakura restarted her run again, and ran for the nearest door, but she gasped when she saw the blood stains on the walls and floors.

_'This must be where Itachi killed his parents...'_

Shifting Naruto's body into a more comfortable position, Sakura examined the slightly faded stains. It looked like Itachi gave his parents a quick death, but not entirely painless.

Sasuke's footsteps entered the room, making Sakura spin around, switching to defense, her eyes glued on her opponent. She could see his reluctance to enter this room, and she decided to use it against him- no matter how cruel that sounded.

"If you attack me, then you'll destroy this room," she warned.

Onyx colored eyes hardened and a katana was unsheathed. In one swing, the whole room was obliterated, leaving them each standing on a wobbly, scorched plank of wood.

Sasuke took a menacing step forward.

"I'm not the Sasuke you knew."

In a moment of desperation, Sakura threw a picture frame at the teen, but he just sliced through it. When the picture frame fell to the floor, it showed Sasuke and his family... happy and laughing. Split ironically where only Sasuke was cut off. A tear escaped Sakura's eye.

"Sasuke... how did you become like this?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"When I learned the truth," was his reply, and then he took another swing of his katana, the tip barely missing Sakura's heart- and would've made its mark if she didn't jump back.

The pink haired female clutched Naruto closer to her chest, praying that he wouldn't get hurt and tried to persuade Sasuke not to kill her.

"Stop this Sasuke!" she cried. "The Akatsuki is just using you! For universal rule! Don't do this!"

When there was no pause in his swings, Sakura added in, "Itachi wouldn't have wanted this! What he did was to _save_ Konoha, and you're destroying all his hard work!"

Finally, the attacking stopped. Sasuke lowered his head so that his bangs were covering his face. When he finally looked up again, his face was dark and furious.

"Stop pretending that you know what Itachi is like!"

Sakura squeaked in surprise, turned, and ran. She ran at full speed until her muscles ached and screamed for a moment of rest, but her brain knew that she would be a goner if she even took a few seconds to stop.

An ocean became visible in the distance, and Sakura planned to use that as a hideout, but right when she got to the shore, she was ambushed. Kisame rose out of the water, a feral grin on his face. He pulled down his sword so that the tip was pointing at his prey.

"Hand over the boy if you know what's good for you."

Sakura took a step back, confusion written all over her face.

"Y-you're dead..." she whispered. "N-Naruto killed you a m-month ago... I saw it with my own eyes!"

He snickered and smirked, "Can't kill the water beast. Now hand him over."

"No!"

"Then let's hope you're someone worth killing."

A kunai was flung at her from the back, and since she couldn't block it with her hands, she had to side-step and dodge, but then came kunais from all directions but upwards, so she had to jump up... and that was when Sasuke's katana stabbed right through her back.

The sword was lowered slowly along with her body, and she was just glad that the sword didn't stab through her deceased friend. Even though she was bleeding and rather out of options, Sakura still remained defiant and shielded Naruto's body with her own.

She heard footsteps come and stop right beside her with a sigh. It was Kisame.

"We could do this the easy way or the hard way, pinky."

He held out an expecting hand, eyebrow raised- well it would've been if he had any eyebrows.

She yelled out a muffled, "No!" since her face was buried in Naruto's shoulder.

The next thing she knew, her chakra was being sucked out of her. Having your chakra stolen from you wasn't a pleasant feeling. It was like someone sucking large amounts of blood out of you, draining your energy.

Sakura fought to keep consciousness, but then a multitude of weapons were plunged into her back. A small scream left her mouth before she was kicked to the side, and in the same moment, her best friend was pried from her grasp.

The last thing she saw was Sasuke standing on that cursed shore with Naruto carelessly slung over his shoulder and then a wave crashed over her, pulling her into the sea. The last thing she heard was the sound of rushing water, dragging her in deeper and deeper. The last word she was able to utter out was the traitor's name...

Until she let the darkness take her body.

-s-

The first thing she heard when she awoke was warbled voices. She couldn't make anything out of them except a few words that frightened her a bit. The words: dead, knives, kill, and died kept reaching her ears, but all the other words were complete nonsense.

Her senses slowly started coming back to her and she could now tell that she was lying down on something gritty. The smell of saltwater drifted to her nose and she made the guess that she was on the beach. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times to get used to the bright light that awaited her. Pushing herself up, Sakura winced at the reopening of the wounds on her back.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The kunoichi swung her head to the left to see who spoke, and relaxed when she realized that it was Iruka... but then she put up her defenses again when she remembered that Iruka had already died at the hands of the Akatsuki. Her guard only heightened when she saw who was standing next to him. Sarutobi. _He_ had died a long time ago thanks to that bastard Orochimaru.

'Iruka' tilted his head to the side and asked, "Are you mute? Can you hear me?"

Sakura slid out a kunai.

"I know that's you, Kisame. You can't fool me!" she hissed.

Iruka blinked in surprise.

"I'm Iruka, and this is Hokage-sama. There's no one named, 'Kisame' around here. If there was, then he's gone now."

Sakura didn't believe him for a second, and looked around for an escape route. She then noticed that the weapons which used to be embedded in her back were now thrown into a pile to the side and that her torso was neatly wrapped in bandages.

Her common sense whispered, 'Why would the enemy help? The healthier you are, the easier it is for you to break out.'

She then realized that her body was physically... altered. It was the exact same as when she was 12 years old again. Maybe... maybe this was all a genjutsu! The Akatsuki are going to try to taunt her and then she's going to snap back to reality with the burning houses, the dead bodies, and the horrible truth.

Her hands immediately flew up into the desired hand sign.

"Release!" she called out.

When nothing happened, she tried again, but the same result. Her hands slowly lowered down to her sides in confusion.

Iruka placed his hands on his waist and turned to Sarutobi.

"She's been trained in the ninja arts. Where do you think she came from?"

The hokage replied, "Her headband has our sign on it. Have you seen her face in your class before?"

"I have a student with purple hair, not pink hair."

Sakura rose an eyebrow. She didn't remember anyone with purple hair in her class. What were the Akatsuki trying to do? And... wouldn't they make everyone actually _know_ her? Maybe she should play along and see what happens.

She said warily, "I'm Sakura. My parents taught me everything I know and I haven't been outside often other than our backyard."

Iruka leaned down and offered a generous hand.

"Hello Sakura. How'd you get here?"

Sakura thought quickly and answered, "I was taking a walk on the beach when I tripped and fell in the water. I guess I was washed ashore again."

Sarutobi spoke for the first time since their encounter.

"Would you like to enroll in our class?"

The girl was frozen for a second, shocked at how great an opportunity this was. She would be able to start all over again! _If_ this wasn't really a genjutsu.

After a while, she smiled and agreed. Both men smiled back at her politely, and Iruka helped her up to her feet. Hissing at the pain, Sakura turned to look at her back and narrowed her eyes at the reddening bandages. She was suddenly swung up into the bridal position and saw that it was Iruka who had pulled her up.

"Let's get you to the hospital."

-s-

Sakura glared openly at the glaring white walls of the hospital. She hadn't minded them as a medic, but she found how hateful they were as a patient.

_'I'm going to have to replace the wallpaper with a duller color so that they don't blind you when you first wake up.'_

The nurses had given her some time alone, and she had made sure to use every minute to her advantage. First, she had healed herself at a painstakingly slow pace- if the nurses come back in and she's suddenly all healed and new, then they might suspect something. Sakura wanted to keep the 'Going-Back-to-Twelve-Years-Old' thing a while longer... because if this wasn't really a genjutsu, then everyone would think that she was crazy... but maybe she could tell the hokage.

She looked out the window to see if anything could give her a clue whether this was all fake or not. To her surprise, she saw that the hokages' faces that were set in stone were all painted over and drawn on. A tinge of blonde caught her eye and she spied Naruto running through the town with a paint bucket and a paintbrush. Not far behind were two other ninja chasing after him.

Two pink eyebrows rose. How could the Akatsuki have known about _this_? Unless this was all just something conjured up by her memories... but then again she was at school when this all happened. She didn't really see it, but she knew about it.

A sweet, female voice cut off her thoughts.

"Miss Sakura?"

Pink hair swished as the girl turned to see what the nurse wanted.

Guessing that she was allowed to speak, the nurse continued, "It seems that you've been healing at a unusually fast pace. You should be able to be out as soon as you can walk without pain again."

At this, Sakura jumped up and off the bed, grabbed her clothes, and walked to the bathroom. A few seconds later, she appeared fully dressed and exited out the door with a wave. Since she had worked in the hospital for such a long time, Sakura could easily navigate her way through the familiar halls. She suddenly noticed something that she didn't remember was in the hospital.

Calling the closest nurse, Sakura asked, "What is this plant for?"

The nurse smiled.

"It's really a sake detector, just in case someone smuggles sake inside the hospital."

A light bulb flashed inside Sakura's mind. _Now_ she remembered the plant. When Tsunade had taken over the hospital, she had to walk past this plant to get to her office, and the plant would beep every single time she passed by, signaling that she had sake. Shizune would be by her side in an instant and would rid her of the sake stash hidden beneath her bra. After a while of this, Tsunade became annoyed by this plant and ordered for it to be removed.

Nodding her thanks, Sakura moved on. Sarutobi had asked her to meet him in the hokage tower once she recovered from her wounds. She took her time to breathe in the fresh air that was omnipresent throughout the town and admire the green leaves that were starting their color changes.

_'A big change from the destroyed city,'_ she thought.

She realized that she never thought of doing this when she was younger. Never stopped to see the beauty and nature all around.

-s-

"Welcome to Konoha, Sakura. What is your clan's name?"

Sakura was now standing in the hokage's office being interrogated.

"Haruno," she replied.

Sarutobi leaned back and seemed to be in deep thought.

She heard him mumble, "I've never heard of _that_ clan name before..."

The pink haired girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What?

"Hokage-sama, the clan is nearly right in the middle of the town!"

The hokage lifted his head. It was obvious that he had no idea what she was talking about. Sakura walked towards the window and pointed to where the clan's village was.

Sarutobi shook his head and explained, "That's not the Haruno village, that's the Aki village."

The girl stood frozen with shock for a few seconds. The Aki village?

"O... okay..." then she recovered. "I forgot that the Haruno village had moved it last location. Now it's on the border of the woods."

The hokage eyed her intensely for a second, and then resumed his previous mood.

"Well. You will be joining our academy today. Go there immediately. Good luck."

Sakura nodded mutely and left for her new school... that she would be starting near the end of the school year.

-s-

She walked through the door of the academy and shrunk back when she noticed the many pairs of eyes staring at her. Even Naruto- who was tied in rope- stared at the pink haired newcomer.

Iruka broke the silence.

"Sakura! You're already healed?"

Sakura couldn't squeeze any noise past her lips since she was so nervous, so she merely nodded and hugged her backpack closer to her chest.

_'Why am I suddenly so timid?'_

She tried to speak.

"W-Where should I s-sit?"

She heard a girl whisper to someone, "Not _another_ stutterer!"

The kunoichi blushed furiously and managed a glare at the girl, which turned to a look of surprise. It was a girl she had never seen before in her life. A girl with purple hair and strange shining orange eyes.

And she was sitting in Sakura's old spot.

_'A... replacement?'_

Iruka snapped her out of her thoughts.

"You may sit anywhere you like... but there's only one seat open and that's next to Choji. Now everyone make Sakura feel welcome."

**(A/N: I saw a picture of the academy and there was only one empty seat next to Choji. Poor Choji...)**

Sakura nodded politely and settled down next to Choji, who was eating his favorite bag of chips. Her new seat partner gave her a shy look and continued to eat even faster than before.

The girl guessed that this was due to nervousness and smiled at him saying, "Hey Choji. I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you."

She held out a kind hand, mentioning for him to shake it. At first he was reluctant, but then he took her hand in his and shook. Sakura's smile became wider and brighter- if that was possible.

Choji pulled his hand back, lowered his head, and asked, "You don't think I'm disgusting?"

"Why would anyone with the right mind think _that_?" Sakura snapped, her hands now on her hips. "The Akimichi clan is a strong, respectable clan. They're _far_ from disgusting!"

Their conversation ended there with Iruka's, "I'm on the end of my rope, Naruto! You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that! Tomorrow, you get another chance and you're messing up again!"

Sakura turned her attention towards the bickering males. Her eyes landed on Naruto and the sudden desire to rush up to him and give him the most bruising hug in his life was nearly unbearable! Yet she pushed the want down and diverted her eyes. Then, she just closed them completely. There was no helping that she wanted to hug _everyone_. Except Sasuke.

Iruka's voice rang into her head as he shouted, "_Ha!_ Because _you_ missed it Naruto, everyone will redo the Henge Jutsu!"

Many groans followed his announcement.

-s-

Everyone was lined up neatly with the strange purple haired girl first in the line.

Iruka nodded at her and said, "Alright. First is Ren Aki."

Sakura nearly gasped aloud.

_'Aki! She's from the Aki clan!'_

Ren performed the Henge Jutsu perfectly, transforming into Iruka himself. The teacher smiled in approval. The purple haired girl poofed back to herself and squealed.

"Sasuke-kun! Did you see that, Sasuke-kun? I bet no one else but my Sasuke-kun will be able to beat that! Ha!"

Sakura winced. Was _she_ like that when she was younger? Hopefully not... how embarrassing...

After a few people, Naruto was next, and like last time, he used his 'Sexy no Jutsu'. Iruka fell in surprise and jumped back up with a nosebleed, his face red with fury.

He was about to shout until Sakura intervened.

"Sensei, I know that Naruto's transformation was inappropriate and unnecessary, but the jutsu was very well developed. Other than the whiskers, Naruto's transformation was perfect- his voice was even higher and feminine. It's the Henge Jutsu we're testing, am I right? It doesn't matter who or what you transform into, it matters how well you do it. You can't mark Naruto off too badly for that."

Iruka calmed down and thought for a second and then wrote down something on his clipboard while grumbling incomprehensible words.

Naruto was staring at the new girl with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She had _helped_ him. Barely anyone helps him! Sakura turned her jade eyes to him and beamed while showing him the thumbs up sign.

Soon, it was Sakura's turn.

Her sensei looked down at her with concern.

"Are you sure you can perform a Henge Jutsu?"

Sakura's response was to transform into him. He nodded in satisfaction and made a check on his clipboard.

_'So far, so good.'_

-s-

The park. A fun place for people both young and old. To a bypasser, they would think that the playground was empty... but if they really squinted their eyes at the small forest that traced the edges of the playground, they would notice something off about one of the trees... and if they came about 5 feet away from that tree, they would've seen a girl with pink hair and forest green eyes dressed in a camo suit sitting casually on one of the thicker branches.

Sitting on the tree gave Sakura some time to think.

_'Ren Aki. Purple hair, orange eyes. Sits in my old seat during class and whose clan has replaced the Haruno clan. Her name... even her __**name**__ is similar to mine! Aki Ren. Autumn Lotus.'_

Sighing, she fiddled around with a scarlet colored leaf.

She mumbled aloud, "It doesn't look like I'm escaping from this genjutsu any time soon."

Then something occurred to her. Where was she going to live?

-s-

The hokage shook his head while looking over some papers.

"Sorry Sakura. It seems that the apartments are all rented out and the inns are all booked up for the year. Either you find somewhere else to live, or you're going to have to live with a friend."

The medic groaned in frustration.

"How am I going to- Oh!"

A light bulb flashed above Sakura's head and she smiled.

-s-

Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead and examined her handiwork. She circled the cabin, eyeing all sides of it, and once she was done, she stopped and let out a sigh of relief.

"My house... is done."

There in front of her stood a basic wooden cabin made of tree trunks. It was messy and rather small, but it would do for the time being. Sakura started gathering leaves and piled them all in a corner inside the house as a makeshift bed. Once she had more money later, she would buy a _real_ bed and maybe some lighting... but for now, the leaf pile was her bed and any light came from fire, moonlight, or sunlight.

She then noticed that it was nighttime and she knew she should probably get some shut-eye... but her grumbling stomach reminded her of the forgotten dinner.

-s-

Naruto and Iruka both sat at the seats of Ichiraku, talking over something.

The waitress came and asked, "What would you two like?"

Naruto was the first to recognize the voice.

"S-Sakura-chan?"

The waitress lowered her writing pad to see who had called her name and nearly jumped in surprise.

"Naruto!"

It was Iruka who asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I-I work here! I don't have any money, so I work here for free food."

"What do you mean, 'No money'? Don't your parents provide any money?"

"Um... they're on a mission and won't come back in 5 days, and they forgot to give me the key to my house."

"Really? I can probably unlock a window and you could get in that way."

"Oh... thanks for the offer but no thanks."

Sakura then quickly retreated into the safety of the ramen stand's kitchen and shook her head to clear her mind of the nervousness. That was close. Some men are just too smart for their own good.

-s-

**Choose which one I should do in your review.**

**a. Continue**

**b. Don't Continue**

**I think I've done well for my first fanfic. What do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just needed one vote to continue, but I got **_**4**_**! Thanks to Tilunar, Konnichiha Yoshi-Chan, Random-Randomize, and LadyCalus :)**

**A Message For The Reviewers:**

**LadyCalus- Hm... that's something to think about. Thanks for the pointers! Everything will be answered on chapter 2. Well, almost everything. And I agree about burning the body. I made it seem like she was trying to put off burning the body until she absalutely **_**had**_** to... but too late. Chance gone. :P**

**Random-Randomize- Lol, me too! **

**Konnichiha Yoshi-Chan- I love time travel fics too! :) That's why I wrote this one. :P**

**Tilunar- Thanks for the indirect answer. :D**

**-s-**

Collapsing on the bed of leaves, Sakura sighed contently. Once she had washed _all_ of Naruto's empty ramen bowls, she had eaten to stop her stomach from complaining and went straight home.

Burying her face in the leaves she groaned, "16 bowls of ramen... 16 bowls to wash..."

As much as her body needed it, sleep wouldn't come. The excitement from the day was still buzzing inside her head. Soon, she gave up trying to sleep and went for a walk beneath the stars. The Konoha woods were all around really, but the thickest part of the woods was behind the Hokage Tower- which is where Sakura chose to live. Why not live in the spot where all the exciting things happen?

It was nearly midnight and there was a full moon shining down on the village. Sakura walked out of the woods without a sound and started her night stroll. First thing she noticed was how the street lamps lit up the darkness. When she was younger, she was too afraid of the night and only saw the shadows. When she was older, she was always rushing around or too busy to notice anything. Now, she wasn't busy and she had confidence that whatever came out at her, she could either defeat or at least outrun.

She entered the town, watching the light disappear from the windows as candles are blown out. Walking past where Naruto lives, Sakura couldn't help but smile when she heard muted snoring come from the room he slept in. Her feet carried her further on until she reached where Sasuke's apartment was. To her surprise, there was the thumping sound of something embedding itself into wood. Looking at the small patch of trees behind the apartment, Sakura saw Sasuke, covered in sweat and grime, training.

The girl snuck quietly around the apartment and ducked behind a tree. She ran and ducked behind another tree that was closer to the Uchiha boy. This pattern continued until she was behind the tree that was in his sight, but still a few trees back so that she wouldn't be spotted easily. Her head peeked out from the side of the tree and watched him with slight disapproval as he flung kunais at the targets.

Shouldn't he be asleep by this hour? The tree she was leaning against suddenly vibrated with the force of a kunai hitting it. Sakura gasped in surprise and jumped back, revealing her position.

She met his angry, glaring eyes and muttered, "Shit."

"_What_ are you doing here?" he demanded.

The kunoichi smiled nervously and held up a hand.

"H-Hello."

"Go. Away."

This rude statement wiped away her shyness and brought out her stubborn side. She narrowed her eyes and clasped her hands on her hips, but before she could even say anything, a shirt was thrown in her direction. Sakura's eye twitched as she stared at the piece of fabric thrown at her face. When she looked up again, she saw Sasuke with his arms crossed, shirtless.

"Now leave."

At first Sakura didn't register what had just happened. Then she realized the position she was in and a new wave of confusion swept over her. She threw the shirt up in the air and dashed away from it like it was a large spider.

"What in the world are you doing, baka? _Put your shirt back on!_" she shouted, pointing to the rejected cloth on the grass.

A flicker of surprise crossed Sasuke's eyes, but it was gone in a flash and was replaced by a look of annoyance.

"You're a fangirl, aren't you? Take my shirt and leave."

The Haruno stood there, stunned.

"A _FANGIRL?_" she screeched. "YOU THOUGHT _I_ WAS A _FANGIRL?_ YOU ACTUALLY GROUPED ME TOGETHER WITH THOSE FROTHY BOY-THIRSTY _ANIMALS?_"

Her fists started clenching, planning to punch the ground with enough force to take out a good chunk of Konoha... but then she caught herself and fought to stay calm. The only thing she could do right now was glare back at the boy with more venom than his own. Any more exploding and she'd wake up half of the neighborhood.

They stood in silence for a minute with only Sakura's heavy breaths and a few crickets filling the silence. Once she had calmed down considerably, Sasuke spoke again.

"Then why are you here?"

Sakura hesitated, then answered, "I was planning on befriending everyone, and you just happened to be first. Since I'm here, I should make sure you get to sleep. You... seem like you could use a little friendship and a bit of help."

"I don't need any help," the boy stated coldly with narrowed eyes. "And bonds are only for the weak."

Leaning forward with an eyebrow raised, Sakura replied, "Well I strive among friends... yet I get stronger with their support."

Before he could shoot back something else, she ushered him closer to his house and shoved him to the door.

"Now go to sleep before I glue you to your bed," she threatened, and started walking away.

-s-

Strolling through the half-empty streets, Sakura hummed a lullaby that Hinata sang to her when she was 16 and suffering from nightmares of Lee's death. Out of all the deaths, Lee was the first to go.. and she was the medic that was supposed to save his life. She was titled, 'Tsunade's Apprentice', the legendary healer, second to only Tsunade herself... yet she had left the hospital that day with her hands stained with Lee's blood... the blood that she wasn't able to save.

A war cry broke through her memories and she snapped her head to the left, dodging just in time so that the butcher knife wouldn't slice her neck off. Heart pumping, her mind told her to run, but her feet felt like lead. Three bandits jumped out from the shadows with deadly looking daggers, glinting dangerously in the light. Green eyes widened into saucers and even though her mind was completely blank, her body started moving by instinct. There was a flurry of limbs and before she knew what happened, there were three unconscious bodies laying on the floor in front of her.

She quickly ran to their sides and checked their pulses. All alive. Her muscles relaxed at the fact and she walked on casually as if nothing had happened. It was only when she reached the forest that the nervousness came.

_'What if they check the bodies and find my fingerprints on them? Would they be suspicious? Would I be labeled as a murderer?'_

Then she remembered that Konoha hadn't invented the fingerprint technology yet, but her heart still flittered around in her chest. Her small cabin soon came into view and she sighed in relief. Sleep was coming soon.

Unfortunately, sleep wasn't always a good thing.

-s-

_Her friends all stood before her, smiling and laughing like they always did. A smile immediately flew on her face as well at the sight of their happiness. Her mentors and teachers appeared by them, equally happy. She wanted to join them too. Her feet started their way towards them, but then a look of distain appeared on every single face there was. More people came, each face mirroring the other. She recognized these people as the villagers of Konoha. _

_They all started fading away, getting farther and farther in the distance. She let them go with warm tears at the corners of her eyes. The group suddenly stopped. One person stepped out of the group. A male... with warm blue eyes, a contagious smile, and a bright orange jacket. He walked towards her and once he was close enough, he wiped away a tear. _

_"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll always be your brother when you need me."_

_The care and love inside that statement brought even more tears to her eyes._

_Hinata came as well._

_"I'll be there to soothe you when you're upset."_

_Ino._

_"I'll be the one to push you back up when you fall!"_

_TenTen._

_"I'll be the friend and the supporter in the fighting arts!"_

_Temari._

_"I'll be the one forcing you to laugh when you're down!"_

_Kiba._

_"Don't worry sweetheart! Come to me when you need company."_

_Sakura rolled her eyes and giggled at the wink he sent her. The pervert._

_Kakashi._

_"I'll be there to assure you everything's alright."_

_Soon, everyone was there by her side, talking and laughing with her... but a dark cloud floated over them, crashing with lightning. Sakura tried to warn them, but no sound came out from her mouth. Everyone seemed to oblivious... and right before her eyes... flashed Sasuke Uchiha. As an adult... yet no one paid any heed to his sudden appearance. They just went right on smiling and before her eyes, Sakura watched everyone die a horrible, tragic death, a fire exploding through the town._

_Naruto fell bleeding into her arms, just like that day._

_"You... you couldn't save us. Look at all we did for you... yet you just let us die. We were your supporters, your best friends... yet you throw us away like trash. You're a monster..."_

_She turned and saw Kakashi pulling himself towards her with a blood splattered eye with only an arm- no legs, just __**one**__ arm._

_"H-How... could y-you?" he rasped out, then fell and stopped breathing._

_Everywhere she looked there was a bloody mess. Anyone she turned to had hate in their eyes directed only at her. Hinata glared at her hatefully._

_"__**You**__ destroyed Konoha!" she screamed._

_"W-What?" Sakura gasped. "It's not me, it was-!"_

_Then she looked down at the Naruto in her arms and screamed. Her fist was driven deep into his chest, the feel of his still heart against her bare hand. There was a recording of her killing and slaughtering the people._

_"No..."_

_A heart stopping scream tore itself from her mouth._

_-s-_

Sakura was shaken awake, her eyes not bothering to squint against the bright beam of the flashlight. Cold sweat ran down her forehead and her arms, goosebumps everywhere.

A familiar voice came from her right.

"Are you okay?"

The girl didn't even bother to see who it was. She recognized the voice.

"Yeah... I'm fine, Iruka-sensei. J-Just a bad dream, that's all."

Iruka's voice sounded a bit skeptical.

"A bad dream? You were practically shouting bloody murderer!"

Sakura waved a dismissing hand in the air and forced a smile. "Don't worry about it! I'm just fine."

Her sensei sighed and stood up from his crouch position, flashing the flashlight around the cabin and asked, "This is where you live?"

"... Yes."

Sakura then grabbed on to his leg, crying, "Please! Don't tell anyone about this! The truth is, my parents died during the mission. If anyone hears about this, they won't treat me like a normal person!"

Iruka gave her a sympathetic look and plucked her right off the ground.

"Don't worry. No one will know. I'll even make a small funeral."

"Oh, there's already been a private funeral... that... I wasn't supposed to talk about..." Sakura made a guilty face and bit her lip nervously. "Promise you won't tell?"

He crossed his head solemnly. "Promise."

Sakura mentally high-fived herself. Smooth lie! She _did_ feel a bit bad for lying to Iruka... but... he wouldn't believe her if she told the truth. Suddenly, the picture of her first through Naruto's chest flashed into her mind, making her press the heel of her palm to her eye.

"Y-You can go now, Iruka-sensei."

She soon felt his presence leave her side, and she felt a bit regretful... but she's going to toughen up and face this problem alone. It's _her_ problem. Why get anyone else involved? Her hand shakily returned to her sides again and she poked her head out of her house to check the sun. It was dawn, but the moon was still up.

_'5:00 A.M. Not bad.'_

Her eyes then narrowed as she felt some unfamiliar chakras nearby. Eyelids closing, Sakura felt around for whoever was intruding... and found them. Emerald eyes quickly flitted to the places the strangers were hiding and sighed. So much for privacy. Apparently, the hokage of her own village didn't trust her as much as she'd like him to. There were 12 ANBU posted up all around the forest. Was she really _that_ much of a threat?

Shrugging off the eyes all pointed at her, she decided to go excercising. Why not? Hopefully, these pesky ANBU won't follow her.

-s-

The morning jog was refreshing and mind relaxing. All traces of the nightmare was forgotten, and fortunately, the ANBU weren't following her. She ran by the Hyuuga village, but froze when she heard muffled sobbing. There was only a moment of slight hesitation before she entered. Following the sound of sobs, she found Hinata curled into a ball behind a large fountain. Sakura's heart ached for her, so she went and sat beside her.

Hinata gasped when she felt someone settle beside her, afraid that someone had caught her crying. She turned her lilac eyes towards the stranger and tensed up when she saw someone she wasn't familiar with.

"Beautiful garden you've got here," Sakura complimented while scanning the courtyard. "Did you help tend this?"

The Hyuuga girl quickly wiped the tears away from her face and meekly nodded, sniffing as she did so.

"E-Excuse me b-but who are y-you?" she asked once she gathered enough courage.

Sakura shrugged.

"A friend."

Hinata then recognized this girl as the new student from the academy. She stiffened when the other girl's hand started reaching for her face, but it was only inspecting her hair.

"Your hairstyle is cute," Sakura laughed. "But I think you would look even better if you grew it out."

The heiress blushed a furious shade of red and felt a bit lightheaded. She wasn't used to compliments at all, and this new girl she barely even knew was dishing them out by the minute! The blush became even worse when a hand was placed on her forehead.

Suddenly, she felt the blazing warmth leave her face, the blush practically draining out of her. Once she felt normal again, the hand retreated.

"W-What...?"

Her new friend smiled generously at her and explained, "I just calmed your blood. Now listen, whenever you're blushing and feel like fainting, just breathe in and out deeply to relax yourself."

Hinata nodded shyly and attempted to smile back. This new girl wasn't mean or self-centered like the others. There was something about her and her warm green eyes that pulled people towards her like a magnet.

"A-Arigato, S-Sakura-san," she thanked, finally remembering her friend's name.

Sakura nodded and grinned, "I have to go. See you in school, Hinata-chan!"

The heiress waved goodbye and leaned back on the fountain, trying to make out what just happened.

-s-

Sakura skipped down the road merrily. Usually, she'd be embarrassed to do so, but she was 12 again. She could act like a total kid if she wanted to. The flower shop flashed by and she suddenly stopped right in her tracks. Like, literally froze in mid-step. Then, she started walking backwards until she came to the flower shop's front door.

_Ino_.

The bell rung as the door opened and a beautiful blonde woman suddenly rushed up to her with a large smile on her face.

"Ohayo, and welcome to our flower shop! Do you need any help with anything?"

The kunoichi leaned back nervously at the woman's closeness. Though, before she could say anything, a higher, childish voice came from the back of the shop.

"Ka-san! Don't scare away the customers!"

Ino walked into sight from the back of the shop but ran back at the sight of Sakura.

Her mother smiled sheepishly, took a step back- much to Sakura's relief- and explained, "She didn't have her makeup on yet. I think the makeup boosts her self-confidence, but I really don't understand why. I mean, us Yamanakas are naturally beautiful."

Ino then entered again with a scowl on her face, makeup applied.

She poked a finger on Sakura's chest and warned, "You better not tell anyone what I look like without makeup. You're the new girl, I understand that, but if you tell _a soul_ about this and you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

A pink head nodded unsurely and she asked, "Why? You look even better _without_ your makeup."

Ino took her hand back and crossed her arms.

"You don't seem to know much about popularity. It just _doesn't_ work like that."

Sakura nodded again and then smiled.

"Well it was nice meeting you Ino-pig, but I have to go. I'll see you at school, then?"

Baby blue eyes widened in shock and then narrowed.

Ino hissed, "Ino-_pig_? You're one to talk, _Forehead-girl!_"

That nickname gave Sakura so many flashbacks that she stood unmoving for a moment.

She was pulled back to Earth by Ino's voice.

"H-Hey... you called me names first so don't you cry about it!"

She lifted a hand up to the corner of her eyes and felt moisture and a smile bloomed on her face.

"I-It's okay. It's just that another close friend of mine called me by that nickname. A-Anyways, sorry for calling you 'Ino-pig'... see you later."

-s-

Iruka's face was hidden by the papers he was reading, "We will now start the final exam. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on... the Clone Jutsu."

There was a faint _thud_ and emerald eyes shone with amusement when they saw that Naruto's head was connected to the desk in frustration.

"Haruno Sakura. You're first."

Inside, Sakura was cocking her head to the side in confusion. Wasn't her name closer to the _bottom_ of the list? On the outside, she merely stood up and made her way to the testing room. Iruka followed close behind her and sat down in his seat once they entered the room.

He started with, "Haruno Sakura. You are a new student at the Academy, and you haven't taken the tests we have made for the class since you haven't been there at the beginning of the year. We're going to have to test you on your knowledge so far and see if you're capable of passing."

Her response was a nervous, "Alright..."

**(A/N: You can skip this... not really important. There'll be another A/N once it's done so you can just skip until the test is done.)**

"What is chakra?"

"Chakra is... both your physical and spiritual energy residing inside your body."

_'Got to make this sound as basic as possible.'_

"What is a jutsu?"

"A jutsu is the mystical arts that a ninja uses whenever they choose."

"And how do you perform them?"

"To perform a jutsu, we must release both the physical and spiritual energy, and we choose the desired jutsu by using hand seals."

"How many hand seals are there and what are they called?"

"12; Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar."

"What are the types of jutsu and what do they do?"

"Ninjutsu is any technique that utilizes chakra and allows the user to do things that a normal person wouldn't be able to do. Genjutsu allows the opponent to experience illusions. Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat and doesn't require chakra but may be enhanced with chakra. Doujutsus are genetic ninja abilities that allow the eyes to percieve chakra in some form or another. Nintaijutsus are jutsus in which you combine Taijutsu and Ninjutsu to perform elemental attacks."

There was a slight pause before Iruka continued, "What are hunter-nins?"

"Hunter-nin are specially trained to track down missing nin."

"And what are missing-nin?"

"A ninja who has left his village without any intention of returning."

"You do know that they may be females, right?"

This question startled Sakura once she realized her mistake. When Iruka had asked that question about missing-nin, Sasuke's betrayal had immediately come to mind and she had accidentally mentioned the gender of the missing-nin in her answer.

"H-Hai..."

"Ok... next question. What does the word, 'kage' mean?"

"Shadow."

"One last question. What are medic-nin and what do they do?"

"Medic-nin are healers and they heal physical injures that are inflicted upon their teammates. Medic-nin are not to be hurt and are mainly in the middle of the group."

**(A/N: The test is over.)**

Iruka quickly wrote some things down on a piece of paper and smiled at the girl.

"Very good. You have answered every single question right... even some questions that I haven't taught the class yet.

Sakura widened her eyes. He _did?_ Everything seemed pretty basic to her.

"I think you're more than ready to become a ninja... mentally. Let's see what you can do. Can you perform the clone jutsu?"

Sakura made 2 clones who stood beside her and smiled politely.

"Alright. You pass. Congratulations! Please call Sasuke Uchiha to come inside. It's his turn."

Sakura nodded and walked out the door.

_'I... answered some questions that were above the academy level? But... which one? I'm pretty sure they were all pretty elementary...'_

She then realized that she was standing there with a strange look on her face outside the door. Lowering her head with an embarrassed blush on her face, Sakura walked over to Sasuke. At first she was frozen with something a bit like fear, but then she recovered and plastered a fake smile over her face.

"Your turn, Sasuke," and with _that_ out of the way, she scurried back to her seat.

Choji poked her on the shoulder and asked with concern, "Are you alright, Sakura? You had a weird look on your face when you came out. Did you pass?"

Sakura nodded stupidly and whispered, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

As if she wasn't troubled enough, practically all the girls rose up from their seats and started towards the pink haired girl. She lowered her head and buried it in her arms. This was something that she _really_ didn't need at the moment.

A high, bossy voice to her right snapped, "Stay away from Sasuke-kun!"

Another voice followed, "That's right. He's _ours_, not _yours_, new girl."

Sakura lifted her head to reveal annoyed, jade eyes.

"I'm not after your precious _Sasuke-kun_."

"Ha! Admit it, you have feelings for him! How could anyone _not_ have a crush on Sasuke-kun? He's an absolute _god!_"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura scoffed, "I admit that I _do_ have feelings for him, but they're not entirely positive... and I doubt he's a god."

"Sasuke's going to marry _me_, so erase _all_ feelings for him!"

Another fangirl screamed, "No, Sasuke's going to marry _me!_"

"Me!"

"In your dreams, you _hag!_"

And right beside her desk, all the fangirls started a catfight with scratching, hair pulling, and clawing. Not wanting to be tangled in this, Sakura edged away from the group until she shared a seat with Choji, who blinked at her in confusion.

Sakura gestured pointedly at the fighting mob and shrugged. Choji got the point and nodded, making a bit more room for her. The girl smiled in thanks and settled herself down to be comfortable in his seat. Soon, Sasuke exited the room and the girls suddenly forgot their squabble and all rushed over to be near the dark boy. Sakura sighed in relief and took her seat back with another word of thanks to her seatmate who just faintly blushed and nodded.

"Naruto. Go," Sasuke grunted.

Naruto then shot up from his seat anxiously and gulped. Sakura turned around to beam at him encouragingly, and she looked over to Hinata, who was looking upon their interaction with a look of sadness on her face. Sakura mouthed, 'Encourage him!' to her with a thumbs up. Hinata's face then became slightly red, but then evaporated slowly with her new breathing technique.

When her shy voice came out, it was unsure and soft.

"G-Good luck, N-Naruto."

Naruto turned his head towards Hinata and gave her his signature grin, evoking her blush to rise once again. With alarm, Sakura could see that she was close to fainting and ran over to her friend, a hand on her forehead again. Once the heiress's eyes were clearer, the medic returned to her seat with many varied looks from her classmates.

-s-

**Thank you for the encouragement everyone! :)**

**The reviewers have made this chapter possible. So **_**thank you!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**To the people who reviewed and/or added this story to your favorites... THANK YOU~! It's because of you guys that I continue this story! :)**

**A message to the reviewers:**

**ChicFreakSistaFierce: Thanks for pointing out my mistakes, and I fixed the ones you mentioned. :) Sorry... I get decapitated and amputated mixed up a lot. :P **

**Sakura-Da-Rockstar: Thank yoouuuuu~ I will. :)**

**SakuraLuver: Thhhaaaannnnkkkssssss~ On with the story! :)**

**Konnichiha Yoshi-Chan: Thanks~! I enjoyed typing it! :D**

**-s-**

Apple colored irises stared up at the ceiling blankly. To others, it would seem as if the girl was bored. Well, good. They're supposed to think so. In reality, Sakura was really seeking out Naruto's chakra, wondering how he was doing... and to her surprise, his chakra was flying all over the place. He was forcing a lot more chakra out than needed for this jutsu. She sighed. His chakra control needs some work... and she could maybe... help him.

"Hey! New girl!

Sakura nearly squeaked in surprise but she managed to hold it back and look for the one who called her. She then realized that the voice belonged to Kiba. The puppy on his head yapped cutely and the girl fell head over heels for the cute dog. Why didn't she notice that it was cute before he grew into a giant? She approached Akamaru with closed eyes and slowly extended a closed fist to him. At first, the puppy sniffed doubtfully at the fist, but Sakura moved it so that the knuckles would rub behind his ears. Tongue lolling out happily, Akamaru barked in approval and pleasure.

It was then that Sakura opened her eyes shining with delight and loosed her fist to scratch him openly.

Kiba, to say the least, was surprised. Usually, girls would just rush up and try to pet the dog, but this girl was different. In fact, she made sure that his dog felt completely comfortable around her before petting him.

Sakura felt some relief in her swell up to see that the dog's snow white fur wasn't drenched in blood. Seeing the deaths of your friends can really make people easy to please.

Kiba, always the ladies' man, complimented her, "You know, you're actually pretty cute."

The other girls who liked him were preparing to tackle their future competition, but then stopped when she asked, "And how many girls have heard _that_ line before?"

Now Kiba was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to answer to a question like _that?_

Every student in the class was watching the event play out. Sakura had an eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer. Kiba's mouth was slightly ajar, but no sound came out. After a few seconds Sakura decided to let the dog boy escape with his dignity and distracted herself with the blonde who just exited the testing room.

"Naruto! How did you do?" she asked, hoping that he might've passed.

Instead, there was glum silence and a weak smile.

_He failed..._

Sakura steeled herself and slung her arm in a friendly way over Naruto's shoulder.

"How about we get some ramen afterwards? You and me."

Naruto's eyes lit up, but then the girl threw in, "It's not a date."

He pouted childishly, sending his new friend into a fit of giggles.

Then... a problem arose. Where was she going to get the money?

-s-

Sakura walked over to Naruto, headband in one hand and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. A darker presence enetered her range of chakra and she narrowed her eyes. She whispered a faint warning to Naruto before disappearing inside the croud. That fake idiot, Mizuki, was Naruto's to take care of.

She was walking with her head down, immersed in her own thoughts, when she crashed into someone's back and fell onto her rump.

"Oh... G-Gomen-nesai..." she muttered and looked up from her shoes.

Emerald eyes slid up and stopped at a achingly familiar collared shirt and stopped there. They slid up nervously to dark, cold eyes. Recognition flashed in those eyes until they returned to their previous stoic manner.

She noted that she had accidentally knocked him down too. Hurriedly standing up and brushing herself off, Sakura offered a hand for him to take, which he swatted away and started pushing himself up.

It was something about this boy that made her anger rise easily... something about him that made her feel frustrated. That something was maybe the reason that she pushed him back down and hold her hand in front of him.

Sasuke glared at the hand and ignored it again, starting to stand up once more... but he didn't know of Sakura's stubbornness. She pushed him back down before he could even stand up and resumed her position of one hand held out, the other hand resting on her hip patiently.

The Uchiha knew that this would go on all day if he kept refusing, so he took one last glare at the girl- who glared at him back- and reluctantly took her wrist. Sakura shrugged. Close enough. When she saw that he was making no move to stand up, she made the move for him and pulled him up by force, letting him land delicately on his feet.

He'd never admit it but he was impressed with her strength. She was a lot stronger than her thin arms looked. Sakura, now happy again, smiled a farewell and started going to opposite direction of where she was facing. Time to go work at Ichiraku's again.

She never made it.

When she was nearly halfway to her destination, an ANBU appeared in front of her.

"Hokage-sama wants a word with you. Be there as soon as you can."

With those words, he/she disappeared. Sakura sighed and switched directions, knowing with a sinking feeling that it's not going to only be just _one_ word.

-s-

"Hokage-sama," Sakura greeted with a small bow.

The hokage in turn nodded back to acknowledge her presence and went straight to the questions.

"Explain why you had a headband on when you were washed up."

At first, Sakura was confused as to why he asked for her to explain that... when she remembered that only ninja wore headbands. As in genin and above. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip.

Should she tell him the truth?

"_And_ why I didn't find any records at all about the 'Haruno Clan'."

Sakura's mouth opened to say something, but the only sound came from the sharp intake of breath. Sarutobi sat there with his hands folded, patiently waiting for her to explain. Her breath came back out in defeat.

Tell him and see his reaction or not tell him and be kicked out of the village. The answer was pretty damn easy.

"I'm from the future."

_Tell him_.

When there was no laughing, Sakura decided to start where she deemed necessary. She started with the day squad 7 was grouped and told him everything- the curse seal, the Chunin Exams, the fight on the roof, and Sasuke running away with Orochimaru. From there, she skipped a few years and continued with Sasuke killing his older brother and later on finding out the truth. She told him about the Akatsuki and their goal to extract the Tailed Demons from their host's body. Then she explained the tension between Rain and Konoha and how Rain Country launched an attack on Konoha, leaving it weak.

This was the Akatsuki's chance to further destroy the Village Hidden in the Leaves and look for the last Tailed Demon needed; the Nine Tailed Fox. Then she told him about the chase before Sasuke stole Naruto's body.

"- And I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I guess there was something in the water that washed me back here... in the past. For reasons unknown, my headband stayed with me as well as my clothes and the weapons in my back. I guess it was just my physical body that changed."

Throughout her whole explanation, the Hokage had not uttered a word.

He finally responded with, "I believe you."

"I know this sounds absurd bu- wait, what?"

Sakura had prepared for the worst. To say the least, she had not expected him to accept so easily.

Hiruzen Sarutobi rearranged some papers on his desk and repeated, "I believe you."

At Sakura's confused look, he continued, "You couldn't possibly have known who the Akatsuki were, you somehow knew about the conflict between Rain and Fire, you knew about Orochimaru's curse seal, and you knew about the Uchiha Massacre and the truth behind it. No one could've known all that in one setting."

The kunoichi smiled at the hidden compliment inside, but the Hokage wasn't done with his questions yet.

"What was your rank before you were washed up?"

"ANBU."

"Congratulations on making ANBU, Sakura Haruno... although you're going to have to take the test again if you want to rejoin our ranks."

"Oh, I would like very much to rejoin ANBU... but I don't want suspicion to arise. Instead, could I take a C rank solo mission? I'm short on money for the time being."

"Of course... but this will be a short mission."

Sakura nodded. He didn't completely trust her yet. She could understand that. Then something else came up.

"May I... work shifts in the hospital too? I was a medic trained under Tsunade as well."

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose a bit. Being an apprentice under one of the Three Sages was a rare opportunity.

"Come back tomorrow and show me your skills as a medic. Then, I will decide. For now, you have a mission to take care of... though it'll be strange having a twelve year old take a solo mission."

Sakura solved that problem by transforming into her 15 year old self and grinned at her hokage.

The Third didn't waste any time telling her the mission she was going to be assigned to, "You are going to be escorting a feudal lord back to his estate. A word of warning; he's lecherous."

The female inwardly groaned. Just _great_.

-s-

Sakura found herself sitting by the lord inside the carriage by his orders, clenching her jaw to hold back the punch she wanted to unleash on his cheek bone. A hand was groping at her butt for the tenth time that day.

"Please keep your hands to yourself, My Lord," Sakura gritted out.

Instead of doing as she asked, the Feudal Lord purred, "Your ass has _such_ a nice shape."

Hands clenched as she abruptly stood up, face red with restrained anger.

"I'm going out for fresh air," she muttered, brushed the curtains aside, and jumped out onto the dirt road.

She wanted to take down a whole forest, but knew that the mission could be jeopardized because of her temper. The Lord's son- who was 11 years old- caught up to her.

"Sorry about my Otou-sama. He can't help it."

Sakura sent a smile down at the boy and sighed, her anger flying out along with her breath. What was his name again? Oh yeah. Kazuhiko.

"It's alright, Kazu-kun."

Something caught Sakura's eye. A brown kitten lay at the side of the road unconscious. Being the medic she was, Sakura was by the helpless creature in a flash. Behind her, Kakuhiko followed, a bit surprised that she hadn't called him 'Kazuhiko-sama'.

Sakura observed the cat and mumbled to herself, "It seems like this kitten was run over by something... perhaps something with wheels."

Without a second thought, her hands were placed above the injured cat's body and started healing the skin, then started healing the tissue. The procedure was done quickly so that she wouldn't waste too much time, and she gently cradled the kit in her arms, making sure that nothing would ache once it woke up again.

Kazuhiko gazed in amazement at the girl in front of him. _Amazing_.

His curiosity got the best of him and he finally burst out, "How did you do that?"

Sakura grinned at him and explained what medics do but he was still curious, so she showed him a few herbs that they passed along the way and how people used them. The rest of the trip was filled in with their chatter.

"Thank you for escorting us safely, Sakura-san," the Lord thanked with a sly grin. "You may visit any time you like."

The girl ignored the last suggestion and bowed in response. She then turned to Kazuhiko and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"See you later, Kazu-kun. Oh... and here's a present so that you won't forget me."

She handed over the now awake brown cat and the cat purred, rubbing against the Prince's chin. Kazu beamed at his present and then turned his smile to Sakura, who returned the grin warmly. With one last wave, she was gone and out the doors.

After she vanished from sight, the boy murmured, "I doubt I'll _ever_ forget you, Sakura-chan..."

-s-

"Here's your reward for completing the mission successfully... and in record time too."

Forest green eyes shone in appreciation and excitement once the sack of money fell into her hands.

"Arigato, Sarutobi-sama!" Sakura thanked, saluting to him.

The hokage gave her a small smile at her childish behavior and watched as she poofed back to her 12 year old form and stretched her arms. Frowning a bit in disappointment.

When Sarutobi asked what was wrong, Sakura replied, "My muscles aren't what they used to be so my speed, strength, and stamina aren't what they used to be..."

"Well this might be a good time to show me your medical skills, Sakura. You made it fast enough... but do you have enough chakra?"

Sakura nodded eagerly as her answer and asked, "So what do I have to do to prove myself?"

"You'll work on the patient that checked in last."

"Hai!"

-s-

Sakura walked in the door with her white nurse outfit on, ready to check the patient... and then leaped back in surprise.

_'I-Iruka?'_

Hiruzen's voice came from behind, "I hope this isn't a problem, Sakura."

The medic shook her head nervously and tip-toed over to her patient.

_'He seems to be unconscious... Thank Kami...'_

Her hands went up to his stomach where the wound was and started healing. Once she was satisfied with her work, Sakura wiped her forehead and turned to raise an eyebrow at her hokage.

_'Damn... I don't have as much chakra as I used to...'_

Sarutobi walked towards Iruka to observe her work, and after a few circles around the bed, he finally nodded.

The pink haired girl punched her fist in the air and whispered, "Yosh!"

After her 'initiation' was finished, Sakura dragged herself home. Collapsing on the bed of leaves, sleep immediately claimed our heroine and she fell into much needed dreamless sleep.

-s-

Yawning, a disheveled figure rose out of their bed and stretched. Their legs carried them to the store with half lidded eyes and they took her out once she had a full outfit in her hands- as in a jersey, chest bondages, black rubber gloves, her miniskirt, and black shorts underneath.

The smaller pleasures of life were what you tend to miss... and one of those pleasures was hygiene. The public baths weren't something she favored, but she had a river to bathe in. Although, on her way she passed by the Porn Shop and found Naruto and Konohamaru sneaking towards it. Face blushing a dark red, gloved hands shot out and locked on shirt collars, yanking them back forcefully.

Sakura stepped in front of the two, face still red.

"Naruto! _What_ do you think you're _doing?_ Konohamaru is _way_ too young for _this!_" she indicated to the shop.

"S-Sakura-chan?"

As punishment, a fist was brought upon his face, sending him flying a few feet back. Her eyes landed on the younger boy who was staring at his shoes. She grabbed his collar and lifted him up.

"Don't think that just because you're the Hokage's grandson, you're not going to get hurt. On the contrary..."

She punched him just like she punched Naruto, his figure flying backwards.

"You're an equal!"

Sakura stomped over to the two and gave threatened them before she felt satisfied and went on her way to the river. Casting a genjutsu over the area, she stripped down and jumped into the pool. While she was swimming the events that previously happened flashed into her mind.

_'Irritating idiots...'_ she grumbled in her mind while floating on her back.

Once she was done she stepped out of the water and dried herself off.

Now fully clothed again, Sakura brought her dirty fabrics to the laundry... but something stopped her on the way. She saw two boys trying to sneak into the Ladies' Showers. Running in front of them to block their path, a gloved fist was slammed into two jawbones.

"Baka!" she shouted after them, and huffed.

_'One more time and I'm beating them to a pulp!'_

-s-

The next day, Sakura pulled herself out of her cabin. After her shift at the hospital, she walked back home and fell asleep. Her sleep was plagued by that same nightmare that left her covered in cold sweat once she woke up. Apparently, her limbs were moving about- even in her sleep- and it left her bone tired when she got up.

She met Hinata on the way to school and decided to stop her stuttering so that people would see her as the strong, independent girl underneath the thick layer of shyness. Hinata didn't blush the whole way which was a great improvement.

They entered the classroom hand in hand, Sakura swinging their arms enthusiastically while Hinata just had her finger over her lips timidly, letting her friend abuse their arms.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Over here!" came Naruto's loud voice.

Sakura asked the Hyuuga with her eyes if she wanted to come along, but Hinata shook her head. She may be improving, but she wasn't ready to be so close to the hyperactive blonde yet! The pink haired girl nodded and they parted ways, Sakura opting to sit beside her best friend.

"Ohayo, Naruto!" she greeted and hesitated before greeting his seat-mate. "Ohayo Sasuke."

Suddenly, Sasuke's fangirls were by her.

"That's my seat, bitch!"

Sakura's temper flared to life, but she forced it back down, choosing to ignore the fangirls. She noticed that the one screaming at her was none other than Ren.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me? Are you tone deaf or something?"

The emerald eyed girl couldn't help but grumble, "I _will_ be if you continue screeching in my ear..."

This only riled up the purple haired girl even more and she started screaming and cussing even louder. A mob of fangirls came up as well, their attention caught by the screaming and joined in.

Sakura hit her forehead on her desk and hollered, "If you keep yelling like that, Sasuke's going to _hate_ you! He doesn't like girls that are loud!"

The noise stopped. It just... stopped... like someone pressed the pause button during a movie. A pink head looked up and saw that the girls were pointing rude finger gestures at her while clamping a hand over their mouths.

_'It actually worked...'_

Sakura sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair. Naruto felt worry rise up inside him. Did Sakura like the Ice Cube Prince too?

_'What's so special about him anyways?'_ Naruto thought as he climbed on the desk to glare at his rival who glared back.

"Don't glare at him, Naruto," Sakura warned.

Naruto turned his head to stare at her, calculating whether or not she was mad or was just saying that for the heck of it. Either way, the kitsune locked glares with the Uchiha once again, this time getting closer and closer.

He could hear something like a snort from his friend, and darkened his glare. Was she expecting Sasuke to win? Someone behind bumped his butt lightly, causing Naruto and Sasuke to...

"YOU GUYS KISSED!" Sakura hooted, clutching her stomach and laughing.

The two males parted and started spitting out the saliva from another mouth while holding their necks as if they were choking. They wiped their mouths simultaneously and turned their attention to the girl laughing uncontrollably in her seat.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined. "Stop laughing!"

"I c-can't!" Sakura sputtered out and continued her laughing fit.

Behind her, the group of fangirls all cracked their knuckles, the atmosphere turned dark around them.

"Naruto..." they all growled with menacing looks on their faces.

The blonde huddled closer to his friend, the only place where the murderous feeling wouldn't touch. Sakura sat up again, wiping a tear from her eye that was forced out by the laughter. Only then did she notice the fangirls and she cracked her knuckles as well, glaring at the group.

"Touch a hair on him, and you'll be bald the next time you wake up," she threatened.

The fangirls backed up, since they all knew that Sasuke liked girls with long hair.

It was then that Iruka decided to arrive, and he sweat-dropped at the sight of his classroom, but proceeded to the front. He waited until all the fangirls chose a seat before he said anything.

"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you made it through physical trials and hardships... but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now... you are only genin; first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads- each squad will be lead by a jounin; an elite ninja."

Sakura felt the butterflies rise in her stomach. She was going to be able to start all over again... even if it _was_ a genjutu... and this genjutsu is pretty damn convincing.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities- that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads."

In Sakura's mind, she didn't hear anything. She just blanked out, squirming in her seat impatiently... and then came squad seven.

"Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Ren Aki."

Inside, Sakura felt herself go numb. Ren... that girl stole her place! She faintly heard Naruto groan in disappointment. What group is she going to now? She snapped out of her trance-like state and listened attentively to the groups. Every group was exactly like the first time she went through this... except squad 7. Now with all the groups announced, Sakura sat there, shell-shocked.

Did she not make it past the academy?

Naruto voiced her fears, "Iruka-sensei! You forgot Sakura-chan! Did... did she not pass?"

Iruka answered, "Because of the numbers of students in this class, Sakura Haruno could not be placed in a three squad team. Instead, the Hokage requested that she go on a solo team. She displayed to him some of her skills and he thinks that she's going to be able to handle the task by herself."

All eyes turned to her direction and murmurs spread through the room.

"Wow, is she _that_ powerful?"

"She looks like fragile china! How could _she_ handle a one man squad?"

"If anyone deserves a one man squad, it's Sasuke or Neji."

"Sakura, could you please demonstrate some of your... power? This class needs to be reassured," Iruka requested.

She could tell that he was unsure about the Hokage's decision as well. Jade eyes slid from side to side nervously.

"I-I don't know the Hokage's reason to place me on a o-one man team either," she lied. "I'm only good at g-genjutsu."

"Well show us one of your deadly ones."

Sakura sighed, seeing that Iruka wasn't going to give up easily and obliged, using one of her less deadly ones. She looked all around as everyone saw their deaths right before their eyes. It was a short death, like the one Orochimaru used on her in the forest of death. Even Iruka flinched back.

Faint surprise raised her eyebrows as she noticed that everyone was sitting in their seats, frozen to the spot. Not one person was releasing the illusion.

"Shiroto..." **(A/N: Translation: "Amateurs...")**

-s-

**... Well there's chapter three for ya~! :) Thanks for reviewing! **

**Ja Ne~**

**.xk**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to all the reviews. :) Keep reading!**

**Due to the fact that school has started over where I live, my updating will either speed up or slow down. *Shrug* You never know.**

**-s-**

Sakura's hands flew into the right sign. "Kai!"

The genjutsu over the room fell, everyone lurching forward as if taking their first breath after being in the water for a long time. A few girls were shaking, many guys were panting for breath, sweat running down their forehead. It took a while for everyone to recover, but they eventually did.

"V-Very nice, Sakura. I'm a tad disappointed though... maybe I should talk with Hokage-sama," Iruka said, earning an eager nod from Sakura.

She wasn't sure if she was up to the task of the whole 'one-man'squad' thing. Plus, due to her little genjutsu, a few people feared her.

_'Great,'_ she thought sarcastically, propping up her chin with her hand. _'I bet they think I'm a murderer now... which I am pretty much due to my job.'_

By job, she meant ninja. It took a while for her to accept it and truth was, she really _didn't_ want to accept it... but after a mission where she had to assassinate a kid... a kid at the age of _9... _**that** was when she finally acknowledged the fact. It wasn't pretty to know that ninja were murderer. All the more to love being a medic.

Then, someone's voice pulled her out of her train of memories. "Sakura-san... I... that is... could you possibly... t-teach me... that move as well?"

Sakura looked up to meet Hinata's eyes.

"N-Nani?"

"W-Well... during the genjutsu... when I was killed... I _really_ believed that it was real," Hinata explained while poking her fingers together shyly. "I was paralyzed with fear... and then it was all gone. And... it was just light. There was you... and your hands were glowing green... and you were helping me... _healing_ me! ... It was a-amazing."

Emerald eyes widened. She didn't remember _that_ addition to the jutsu!

_'Shit... did __**everyone**__ see that?'_

She turned around and met Naruto's blue eyes, seeing them sparking with life.

_'What...?'_

What did he see? "Naruto! C-Come here..."

He practically _skipped_ over to her seat and jumped into the seat behind her.

"What's up, Sakura-chan?"

The girl stared him in the eye and asked seriously, "What did you see in my genjutsu?"

"Well the first part where I died was rather terrifying!" Naruto shivered. "But then... the horrifying part disappeared and I was wearing the Hokage outfit and you were hugging me and congratulating me! I _knew_ I was going be hokage, dattebeyo!"

At the last part, he grinned brightly and jumped back to his seat. Sakura swirled around to see Choji. "What did you see during the genjutsu?"

Choji scrunched up his face, trying to remember while eating his chips.

"I was dying. A very painful way to die since I took too many of my special food pills... but then _you_ were there, healing me and protecting me." A pause. "I know it was a genjutsu, but it felt so real!"

The pink haired girl's heart thumped faster. "Shikamaru! What did you see during the genjutsu?"

"I was dying on the inside and out. Then, I woke up inside a hospital and you were there hemping me... and playing this strange board game with me to pass the time I think."

"Ino! What'd you see?"

"Oh it was horrible! I was dying, someone stabbed me on the forehead! I don't know _what_ happened, but I woke up to find you with your glowing hands above me, shouting for me not to die... Forehead... what _was_ that?"

"S-Sasuke?"

"I don't know what's the big deal. There was a hole in my neck. Then I woke up with someone holding food."

Sakura collapsed on the ground, completely numb.

_'W-What's happening? This... they're seeing my memories... Hinata- when she protected Naruto with her life. Naruto- when he became hokage. Choji- during one of his big battles. Shikamaru- after Asuma's death. Ino- the day she died. Sasuke- after the fight with Gaara.'_

No wonder they didn't escape the genjutsu. It was like playing a movie... you don't exactly feel like leaving until the end of it... and they were living the memories Sakura had with them.

The words, "After lunch break, you will meet up with your jounin teachers. Class dismissed." Floated lazily into her mind, swirling around and then going out the other ear.

Even though she had no idea what was going on, she dragged herself out of the Academy, following the steady stream of students- it _would_ be steady if it weren't for the large clump of girls trailing behind Sasuke.

Sakura's mind was still stuck up in the clouds when something poked at her. Something that was slightly _off_. One of the villagers walked by her with some wood on his back... but that wasn't what was out of place.

She finally figured out what was wrong.

He. Had. No. Chakra.

Every living thing has chakra, even a blade of grass. To have no chakra meant that you were dead.

She followed the stranger, pretending that she actually had to go somewhere. Then, when they were far enough from the school, she tackled him.

"Ninja!" she accused, pinning him down.

"Get off, you bitch, un!" the man hollered.

He poofed back to his origional self. With wide eyes, Sakura saw that she recognized this person. In a split second, a kunai was at his neck.

"You harm this village in any way, and you will find yourself decapitated."

**(A/N: I got it right, ChicFreakSistaFierce!)**

"How did you know who I am, un?" the man asked with a small smirk.

Sakura shrugged. "Anyone would see who you are with that feminine hair of yours, Dei-chan."

A vein pulsed on his temple.

"Shut up! This hair makes me look sexy, un! And I'm gonna fucking _kill_ you if you call me, 'Dei-chan' again!"

Sakura gave him an evil smile and whispered, "Nighty-night, Dei-chan."

Her hand swiftly came down on the pressure point located in his neck and he fell limp underneath her. She righted herself up and pulled the blonde haired man up by his shirt. He may be Akatsuki, but he was still human so pressure points worked on him.

"Time to dispose of some garbage..."

Something ticked at the edge of her chakra radar.

_'There. 50 feet away. An immensely strong chakra signature that's barely hidden.'_

She walked calmly over to the trees hiding the cloaked figure and held up Deidara by the shirt collar, offering him to the person in the shadows. Scratch that. _Fish_ in the shadows. Damn it.

"Here's your friend. Take him back and heal him. He'll be just fine other than a headache."

What was she _doing?_ Helping out the _Akatsuki_ of all people? Then again... if she isn't nice, then fishy here would slit her throat.

The blue skinned man gave her a predatory-like smirk. "This idiot must be weaker than we thought. Can't even take out a _female_ with _pink_ hair."

Despite everything, Sakura was sensitive about her gender and her hair.

"Excuse me, but _I'm_ not the one here with fucking _gills_ and blue skin, fish sticks!"

Kisame's smirk was wiped off his face, instead there was a glare. Sakura's anger melted along with his smirk, leaving the anxious feeling of fear. Did she go too far this time?

"You've got some nerve, girlie."

His smirk suddenly returned.

"I like that. I'll let you live... for now."

His hand reached for his teammate and pulled him away with a scowl. "Leader's not gonna like this... better watch out, Princess."

Then, he vanished, leaving behind a grimacing Sakura.

-s-

_Leader's not gonna like this... better watch out, Princess._

Sakura was walking down the road, absentmindedly kicking a pebble, frown still in place. She hated being called, 'Princess'. When that word is heard, you imagine a girl all neat and clean, dressed up in fancy dresses, forced to wear corsets and high heels. They don't imagine princesses as tough warriors, just girls who are alive for their family so that they can join kingdoms or villages together into alliances.

_'What a horrible way of life.'_

Now, she might be targeted by the Akatsuki. Woohoo. Another _pleasant_ result of her recklessness. She kicked the pebble with more force than necessary and it bumped onto the edge of an orange jacket. Sakura looked up with surprise.

"S-Sakura-chan..." Naruto smiled nervously, a hand reaching for the back of his head. "I-I was thinking that... maybe we could have lunch together like you promised. So... you know... we could maybe get to know each other better. I mean, I would definately have _you _on my team over that pesky Ren."

Sakura blinked at the sudden preposition but then smiled. "Of course Naruto... but shouldn't we invite Sasuke and Ren too? I mean, they're in your team now, right? You're going to be stuck with them for a while so you should get to knew them... or else it might be a pain in the back."

The blue eyes blonde deflated at the offer but then reluctantly agreed as well.

-s-

That was how she was sitting between to Naruto and Sasuke at Ichiraku's... with Ren sitting next to the Uchiha boy. Sakura rose an eye at how much the violet haired girl obsessed over him. It was... in a way... amusing. She chuckled when Ren latched herself onto Sasuke's arm, without any intention of letting go any time soon. This gave her a glare from Sasuke.

"You think this is funny?"

Sakura thought for a second and then replied with a snort, "Yeah."

Obsidian eyes glared even harder at the girl, and she gave him a look that said, 'I'm immune to the famous Uchiha glares. Give it up before you hurt yourself.'

Another face popped up in front of her, replacing black eyes with orange eyes.

Ren had her hands on her hips, a her face red. "What do you think you're _doing_, treating Sasuke-kun like that?" Then she turned around and became all melty and gooey again. "Right, Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura realized with a smirk that Ren wasn't as loud as before. So _she_ heard that Sasuke hated loud people too. When Ren traced Sasuke's chest, Sakura shuddered and turned away before the nausea could claim her.

"Hm? Thakuwa-tan? Wou alwight?" Naruto questioned with a full mouth. **(A/N: Translation: "Sakura-chan? You alright?")**

The kunoichi sweat dropped at the sight, her previous feeling of throwing up vanished. There was already 4 empty bowls stacked up beside him and Sakura astarted feeling bad for the store owner's daughter, Ayame.

Ren's voice butted itself into her thoughts, "- And you should thank me for inviting you here, Sasuke-kun! I mean, this is a great time to fall in love! Isn't it romantic? Two lovebirds on the same team! My ramen idea is _brilliant!_"

Apple eyes twitched. _Her _idea?

But the Aki girl wasn't done.

"It's too bad that we have the blonde haired _loser_ on our team! I mean, he's a total _freak!_ What a stroke of bad luck!"

Sakura swirled around in her seat, hands squeezing her seat.

"Naruto. Is not. A freak," she corrected, her voice shaking with barely contained anger.

Ren ignored her and continued to chat with Sasuke as if the pink haired girl wasn't there.

Sakura slid off her chair and grabbed the other girl by the collar. "You will listen to me and you will _take that back._"

Naruto stopped slurping up his noodles at her words. Yeah, he had felt a sting of pain when Ren called him a freak, but he was used to this. The last thing he expected was for someone to stand up for him.

"Why should I?" Ren sneered. "He's nothing but a freak; a nobody."

Sakura dropped the offender down roughly, and asked in a light tone, "You done describing yourself?"

Ren's face flushed a scarlet color that clashed with her hair.

"You bitch!" she screamed. "GO DIE IN A HOLE!"

Sakura felt her nerves snap one by one. Her whole body started shaking with the attempt of holding herself back. This girl shouldn't have tested her. The spot that Sakura was weak in was in the emotional department.

Naruto could feel the goosebumps popping up as pure murder radiated from his friend. He found himself putting a hand on her shoulder. "S-Sakura-chan?"

Sakura was immersed in anger. Many ways of killing this girl flashed into her mind... but before she could act, a fearful voice brought her senses back to her. She turned to face Naruto, the rage draining out of her... but not completely.

She looked down at the fangirl, who was cowering with fear. "You hurt a hair on Naruto's head and I will personally see to your demise."

With the threat in place, Sakura swiftly turned around and with a jump, disappeared. In Naruto's hand was a bag of money for the ramen bill.

It was then that the blonde felt the beginnings of diarrhea.

-s-

A loud yell erupted from the person's throat as they tore a tree out of the ground.

"That bitch!" they hissed under their breath and pushed the tree forcefully back into the ground- they weren't going to kill a life because of their emotions.

Around them were trees that were badly planted. The latest one was the only one that stood upright instead of sideways. They darkened their look on the tree before them, picturing their enemy's face.

A clear bell rung out into the air, cutting off Sakura's tirade of destruction.

School is back in session. The people in squads would now meet their sensei. A picture of Ren flashed in her mind again and she was about to pull out another tree... when the hokage himself appeared before her.

He motioned for her to follow him, and she nodded. He started heading towards the hokage tower, Sakura following behind, glowering.

"Sakura, I want to talk to you about the one-man-squad decision."

Sakura was pulled out of her anger and into a protesting mode. "Hokage-sama, I don't understand why you would put me in a one-man-squad! Wouldn't it rise suspicion?""

"I did not place you in the one-man-squad."

"Wha... huh?"

"It seems that your fellow classmate, Aki Ren, snuck into my office and changed the squads. You were origionally placed in Squad 7 and she was an extra in Squad 8."

"O-Oh..."

"Though she snuck into my room, I don't see why she shouldn't remain in Squad 7."

Sakura looked as if she was struck.

"But she-!"

"I know that your precious friends are in there, but she balances the team as well as you do. Although she doesn't have the skill and knowledge that you do, she's a fine addition to the team. Her grades are 3rd highest in the class behind you and Sasuke, and she might be able to keep the two from bickering so much. Until further notice, the teams are going to stay this way."

"You can't do this, Hokage-sama!" Sakura resisted. "You can't just-"

Sarutobi turned his head to the side so that he could see her. "I believe that I can, Haruno. Did you forget that I am the hokage?"

The girl recoiled and lowered her head in shame.

The hokage turned his back to her once more. "You are dismissed."

-s-

Sakura decided to stay a genin. Becoming a chunin would require redoing the chunin exams, and they were held in the Mist Village this year. She didn't want to travel this far right now. Not in the mood. Instead, she chose first to build up her money and actually buy some necessities.

2 weeks filled with missions and shifts at the hospital flew by, and her cabin soon extended in size. She built an upper level, bought beds, and could now afford electricity and water. The fact that her house was made of wood didn't change. It was just that being inside a wooden cabin made her feel free. A refrigerator was soon added to the furniture along with tables, dishes, bowls, and utinsles.

Her house was completely remodled by the end of those two weeks.

The next day was the day that Sarutobi told her the news.

She was standing in his office, patiently waiting for him to finish the last stack of paperwork. Once he put his pen down, a question was voiced.

"Why did you call me here, Sarutobi-sama?"

Since she was in this office so many times, she started getting closer to her hokage. As friends, Sakura was allowed to call him 'Sarutobi-sama'.

"There are a few other people that we need to wait fo-"

"OLD MAN! OLD MAAAANNNNNN!" an obnoxious voice broke through their conversation and in burst Naruto who was literally dragging his two teammates with him. "I BROUGHT KAKASHI-SENSEI AND SASUKE WITH ME, DATTEBEYO! _NOW_ CAN YOU TELL US WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

He then noticed Sakura. "Sakura-chaaaannnn!"

He tackled her with a bear hug which she returned. "It's nice to see you again too, Naruto."

She turned to nod at the other two.

Sasuke 'hn'ed back to acknowledge her presence and Kakashi gave her a small wave.

"What's this about, Sarutobi-sama?" Sakura asked, trying to shake Naruto off her arm.

"We have recently recieved news that the fourth member of Squad 7 has died by the hands of the enemy," Sarutobi explained. "Sakura, you will be taking her place in the team."

Sakura was shocked. "R-Ren died...?"

The hokage nodded.

"You'll be filling her spot."

"...Hai."

They were sent from the room, their brief meeting over.

The moment the doors closed behind them, Naruto shouted, "WOOHOO! SAKURA-CHAN'S ON OUR TEAM, DATTEBEYO!"

Sakura blinked at him in surprise and asked, "You don't hate me for taking Ren's place?"

"No. It wasn't _your_ fault she died. I mean, we were all pretty sad, but she was always getting in the way and getting on everyone's nerves. The funeral's tomorrow, you wanna come?"

"Ok...?"

She didn't know why she didn't notice before, but she saw that they were all covered in bandages.

"Y-You guys... did you come straight from the hospital?" she gasped.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and replied, "Hehe, yep! We came here as fast as we could when we heard Sarutobi's announcement."

There was a stunned silence. Until...

-s-

The hokage sat in his office, silently signing forms and reading over contracts. He was in the middle of signing an important document when...

"_**BAKA!**_"

Sarutobi's hand slipped and he sweat dropped when he saw the large ink-made slash mark across the whole paper.

_'This is going to take some explaining to do.'_

-s-

"I said I'm sorry, Sakura-chan!"

The new Squad 7 were all in the same hospital room. The males had a couple more bruises from being thrown into a wagon and then being rushed through town by the newest member of their team.

Sakura was pacing around the room, muttering angrily to herself.

Kakashi spoke, halting her steps. "Sakura, was it?" The girl nodded. "Mind if you tell me a few things about yourself? Start with your name and then tell us what you like, what you dislike, what your dreams are, and what you do as a hobby."

"Oh. Well, I'm Sakura Haruno and I like... hm... healing and helping others. What I dislike is arrogance and being seen as the 'underdog'. My dream is to be successful at what I love with those that I love, and as a hobby..." she paused in thought. "I don't think I _have_ a hobby."

Naruto waved his arm in the air energetically and yelled, "WOW, SAKURA-CHAN! YOUR DREAM IS BRILLIANT, DATTEBEYO!"

"It _is_ an improvement," Kakashi admitted. "Our last student wouldn't stop talking about Sasuke and didn't even bother to answer the questions."

Sakura laughed and thanked him. Before anything else could be said, the door opened from behind. They could see that outside, everyone was rushing around, trying to get where they have to go as fast as possible.

"There's an emergency, so most of the doctors are up there working on the patient," the nurse explained. "You're now assigned to the patients in this room."

Sakura nodded and the door shut with a soft click. She pulled her gloves out of her pockets and pulled them on.

"Sakura-chan, you're a medic?" Naruto exclaimed in awe.

The pink haired girl nodded and walked over to his hospital bed. Her hands glowed green as she steadily started healing. She knitted the skin and tissue together slowly so that it seemed that she was still a beginner. Once she was done with him, she moved on to Sasuke, who glared at her as she approached, expecting her to glomp him.

He stared her down the whole time she was healing him while she ignored the fact that he had a face. To Naruto, this cartoon-ish scene was pretty funny and he stifled a laugh.

Sakura dismissed the fact that she healed him a bit fast than she did Naruto, knowing that she just wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. She practically flew over to Kakashi the second she was done and started healing slowly again. Even though it wasn't in his time, Sakura still held a slight grudge against the Uchiha. It was pretty hard to forgive someone who killed your best friend and nearly killed you as well in the process of trying to steal his body.

"You heal very well for a genin, Sakura," Kakashi observed. "Your hands go to the perfect position as if you've done this for years."

The medic stiffened at his remark. Did he notice? "I've only started this a year ago," she lied. "I believe my progress is going _very_ well for someone my age. Even Sarutobi-sama compliments me from time to time!"

She inserted the bragging and pride into her explanation so that he would let it go. When Sakura was 17, she went with Ibiki to an interrogation and found them horrendously torturing. There was also the fact that whenever someone was telling the truth about an accomplishment they made, they bragged about it with a proud and mighty air as if they just disassembled a bomb.

After a while, she finally finished Kakashi's wounds and slumped into a chair, beads of sweat forming on her face.

"What were you guys doing? Tackling bulls?"

"Nah, we were fighting Zabuza," Naruto gloated.

Sakura nodded in understanding. "And I'm guessing that's why Sasuke has senbon marks all over his body."

Naruto grinned nervously with a bit of guilt. Sasuke grunted and looked out the window. Kakashi pulled out his orange book.

A vein pulsed on the back of Sakura's hand as she saw that orange book.

"Put the porn away before I burn it to shreds," she growled.

Kakashi's eyes didn't leave the page in front of him and corrected, "It's a piece of literature, not porn."

"THEN WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Sakura shouted, ripping the book out of his hands and pointing to a very... mature, 18-and-above picture of two girls going at it.

Unfortunately, every person in the room saw the picture and Sakura blushed in embarrassment, throwing the book down on the ground. She felt violated now that Naruto and Sasuke saw pictures of nude women.

"I don't know what to do with you sometimes," she grumbled and swiftly knocked her sensei out.

"SAKURA-CHAN! WHA-"

Naruto was out.

Sasuke blinked at her in slight fear. She rose her hand and pushed down on his pressure point as well.

Now she wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. The book on the ground was scooped up and thrown in the trash.

"Literature my ass..."

-s-

**Chapter four, complete!**

**Since my poll isn't working too well, what do you guys think the pairing should be for this story? I'll try my best to fit the pairing that outweighs the others! **

**Ja ne~**

**.xk**


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